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Family of Papuan languages From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The (Greater) West Bomberai languages are a family of Papuan languages spoken on the Bomberai Peninsula of western New Guinea and in East Timor and neighboring islands of Indonesia.
(Greater) West Bomberai | |
---|---|
Bomberai–Timor | |
Geographic distribution | West New Guinea, East Timor |
Linguistic classification | Trans–New Guinea
|
Subdivisions | |
Glottolog | west2604 (mainland West Bomberai) timo1261 (Timor–Alor–Pantar) |
![]() Map: The West Bomberai languages of New Guinea
The West Bomberai languages
Other Trans–New Guinea languages
Other Papuan languages
Austronesian languages
Uninhabited |
Of the three languages on the mainland, Baham and Iha are closely related to each other while the third is distant, forming a third branch of the family along with the Timor–Alor–Pantar languages:[1][2]
This split, with two of the three branches on the mainland, suggests that Timor–Alor–Pantar may be the result of a relatively recent migration from New Guinea, perhaps arriving in the Timor area shortly before the Austronesian languages did, as Austronesian influence post-dates Proto–West Bomberai and even Proto-Timor–Alor–Pantar.[2]
Wurm, Voorhoeve & McElhanon included Timor–Alor–Pantar and mainland West Bomberai as separate stocks within Trans–New Guinea.[3] Ross grouped them together to form a branch of his proposed West Trans–New Guinea stock, though with mainland West Bomberai as an additional branch within Timor–Alor–Pantar.[4] Holton & Robinson (2014) found little evidence to support a connection of Timor–Alor–Pantar with Trans–New Guinea,[5] but Holton & Robinson (2017) conceded that a relationship with Trans-New Guinea, and in particular with West Bomberai, was the most likely hypothesis.[6] Usher & Schapper (2022) established that the two mainland branches of the family are no closer to each other than they are to the Timor–Alor–Pantar languages – indeed that Kalamang might be the most divergent, and Usher has begun to reconstruct the West Bomberai protolanguage.[1][2]
Usher & Schapper (2022) reconstruct the following inventory of consonants:[2]
*p | *t | *k | *kʷ | |
*mb | *nd | (*ndz) | *ŋɡ | (*ŋɡʷ) |
*m | *n | |||
*s | ||||
*w | *l, *r | (*j) |
Word-initial *k and *kʷ become *ʔ and *w in TAP. *kʷ becomes /k/ and intervocalic *p *t *k become /w, r, zero/ in Kalamang.
Prenasalized plosives did not occur initially in Proto-West Bomberai, having merged with the voiceless plosives. Medially, *mb *nd *ŋɡ become voiced stops in TAP; this is an areal feature, with proto-Austronesian *mb *nd *ŋɡ having done the same in neighboring Austronesian languages.
The vowels are still uncertain, but are likely to have been a simple *a *e *i *o *u system and appear to have included a diphthong *ai.
Usher & Schapper (2022) reconstruct the free pronouns as:[2]
sg | pl | |
---|---|---|
1excl | *an ~ *na- | *in ~ *ni- |
1incl | *pi | |
2 | *ka | *ki |
The correspondences are mostly straightforward; initial *k has been lost from Timor-Alor-Pantar.
Protoforms of the 40 most-stable items[7] in the Swadesh list include the following.[1]
Proto–West Bomberai | gloss |
---|---|
*am[i/u]n | louse |
*kira | water |
*kʷali | ear |
*kVmV | die |
*kina | eye |
*tana | hand/arm |
*nai | name |
*war | stone |
*ami | breast |
*jaŋgal | path |
? | tongue (*maŋg voice/speech) |
*aŋgin | body/skin |
*kaja | rain |
*waik | blood |
*ukʷan[i] | one |
*ma | come |
*tumbər | mountain |
*nawa | eat/drink |
*kəna | see |
*kʷel[e] | skin/bark |
*jambar | dog |
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